Attended the game with OUCountry so I'll share my thoughts:

-Pitiful crowd. Not sure what the deal was there. But the people that were there appreciated the effort the guys put on the floor. I mentioned to Ryan that I think they played well because they were pissed nobody showed up. "Oh yeah? You don't wanna show up? Well, here watch this."

-This team is a really fun watch for anyone who enjoys technical basketball. Maybe that's a reason for the crowds not being there? I don't know. But most everyone on the team is really good at finding open spaces, making crisp passes and making the "smart play." I don't think I've ever seen a team pass up so many open looks...only to get a more open look. Mike was on fire yesterday and at one point late in the game, he got a wide open three pointer in the corner, but decided to pass it to either Jimmy or Gavin for a more wide open look. Incredible.

-Don't dare try playing a zone against this team. Mike, Gavin and even sometimes Jimmy/Zach/Teyvion were excellent at flashing to the open spot in the middle. Once the ball got there, good luck stopping them from breaking you down further. Mike, Kevin and Jason did an especially good job of cutting to the open spot on the baseline once the guy in the middle caught the ball.

-Jimmy G can spot up on those wings and corners on a fast break or breakdown of a zone defense all day for my team. His confidence is growing with each shot he puts up. And he's actually a pretty good defender from what I saw yesterday.

-Uhh, where did Kevin Mickle come from? Ryan mentioned whomever convinced him to come to Athens needs a big thank you. He was a monster in the paint yesterday. You could tell #23 for WKU was getting frustrated because he couldn't stop him.

-Free throw shooting...that's more like it! 31-35?

-Seeing Mike's development from the first time he stepped on the floor as a freshmen to now has been a real treat. The difference is staggering.

-This was a big win, especially when you consider that Jordy didn't get to play. Let's not underestimate that.

I'm not as concerned with the outside shooting as you are. While Gavin, Mike, Zach, and Jimmy G aren't as polished as Jordy, I think they're capable enough to hit open shots when the ball is moving quickly. Add Jason into that mix too once he gets more comfortable. They were 6-19 yesterday, and that's with Gavin going 1-6.

"Some of the fouls late that were called were cheapies. Guys just showing a hand and the refs gave the WKU players, who were clearly just trying to do anything (somewhat out of control) the benefit of the doubt and put them on the line. The refs had a weird game. They let the boys play for the most part, but then there were some questionable things like the Bearden/Laster techs. Really would like to know what was said by both of those guys."

Personally, I thought the refs' whistles benefitted Ohio in the first half and would prefer to see the game played with a "no harm, no foul" mentality. There was a definite phantom foul against Ohio called on the late 3-point "attempt" that was likely an anticipation whistle. All in all, I agree that refs had a weird game.

Replays (and color commentator agreed) seemed to show he was in position to take the charge both times. The first one was almost textbook.

If you were following the play by play, how is it possible to know if the fouls were "stupid fouls" without seeing them, or at least hearing the radio broadcast? I'm not sure there were many bad fouls. WKU did apply good pressure at the end to keep it interesting.

Are you talking about these Medi's? https://www.themedi.org / (sorry, I had to use Google to understand "medi's" and it led me to the above site)

Also, in case anyone needs a Saul doll, they look like this:

https://ae01.alicdn.com/kf/HTB11QQTGVXXXXalXpXXq6xXFXXXU/...

lol, you got me.

They lost on and awful charge call. The ref initially called a block and changed it to a charge. What makes it worst is that WKU had just tied the game and Wisconsin was inbounding underneath WKU’s basket. The play happened 93 feet away from the basket.

Fair questions all under the circumstances. Wisconsin’s inbounded ran the baseline ( as allowed after a made hoop) and his inbound defender ran into a Whisky player who had set up on the baseline in order to entice a charge.
The defender for Western K. is a freshman and he (obviously) did not think of that possibility when mirroring the running inbounder. He never saw him.
It was a tough way to lose such a hard fought game.

That was a piece of crap call. I have seen several high schools over the years use that play. Ridiculous. There is a reason wisky wins in the kohl center

I agree.

Home cookin'.

I think it's a genius playcall to get a basket when you need a basket with little time remaining. What's your issue with the call? Looks easy enough to me. Official got the signal wrong, but that's still a foul.

Refs should always decide the game when there's a clear violation. One of my pet peeves is officials who will not call the same foul in the last minute of a game that they'll call during the rest of the game. It's completely absurd. A foul is a foul, period. Now, I'm not commenting on this particular call because I haven't seen it. From reading the descriptions here, I suspect that WKU got homered, but I have no independent judgement on that issue.